Author Archives: Chris

The Return

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Just under a week ago, I returned to the soccer field for the first time in 11 years, this time on a team sponsored by my employer. We are a team of players who hadn’t played competitively in quite sometime. We knew it would be a challenge to play up to our standards.

I was part of the starting lineup, which made me joke to a teammate (and coworker) that I would last about 30 seconds before calling for a sub. In reality, it was about 2 minutes and I was COMPLETELY gassed. Sitting on the bench, I could barely catch my breath. Completely out of shape for cardio exercise.

One thing I found is despite a 11 year layoff, I still had my sense of position. Playing my natural position of striker, I found I could still anticipate the play developing and get in the right spot, causing all sorts of havoc on the other team’s defense. The problem was my timing: I always seemed about 1 step too slow. Not sure how much of this was my reaction time due to not playing, lack of endurance, or age, but it frustrated me to no end. Speed was a vital part of my game in high school and not being able to sustain that speed other than short, infrequent bursts really got to me.

We won the game 3-2 and I’m very proud of how the team played. With no one in soccer shape, we did an excellent job passing the ball and getting back on defense. Our pressure on the other team resulted in many opportunities. I also got sick at the end of the game…no pain, no gain!

I have no doubt that once I get into better shape I will be able to contribute some goals to the scorecard. It felt good to get on the field again.

Thank You Steve

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When I think of Steve Jobs, I don’t think about how great of a salesman he was, the market cap of Apple, or the fact that he resurrected a company left for dead in the biggest turnaround in corporate history. Although he certainly did pretty well doing the above.

I think of his endless drive to make computers devices that people want to use and have fun using. To make it so my grandmother will not be intimidated by a computer. So someone can have their entire music library available with one touch of a finger on a click wheel. Seeing a 2-year-old figure out an iPad and begin learning because of how intuitive it is.

There is the attention to detail that is unrivaled in the industry. When you pick up an iPhone, you are just in awe. Same thing with a MacBook Pro. Same thing with an iPad.

It was always weird to me that most people called computers running Windows “personal computers.” The only true personal computers were products who’s idea was directly influenced by Steve Jobs. My iPhone is just as much of a personal computer as my MacBook Pro. No one else has had the vision to make devices that work so well at what they do for the vast majority of people who need such a device. There is a reason why so many people have personal connection with an Apple device.

The world lost someone special today. His vision will go on.

Godspeed Mr. Jobs.

The most important lesson a 6-year-old can get

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My great-grandfather was one of those people that no one ever forgets. Everyone knew him and he knew everyone. One of the nicest persons you would ever meet. The hardest worker you could find is what I always heard about him. For a 6-year-old at the time, he also taught me a very valuable lesson the hard way.

I don’t have many memories of him, but I have a few. I remember visiting him at work at a doctor’s office next to New London Hospital. He was a maintenance man there that helped maintain the facilities. He would often pick me up and put me on his riding lawn mower as we went around the yard there. We would also go to his apartment that he shared with the love of his life, my great-grandmother. The apartment wall was covered from floor to wall with pictures of family. Nothing meant more than family to him. I remember hearing his stories. About what, I don’t remember, but I remember sitting on his lap listening.

A long time smoker of Camels, he had quit smoking when he found out cigarette prices went from 25 cents to 35 cents. Right in the store, with my grandmother who happened to be tagging along, they both agreed to quit cold turkey. My grandmother is still here today because of their joint vow.

It was too late for him though. In 1989, he was diagnosed with lung cancer with only months to live. It devastated everyone. This man, who seemed indestructible, would only have a few months to live.

As a 6-year-old, I never experienced death before. My great-great uncle Alberton passed away three years prior, but I was just three. But my great-grandfather, I had real recent memories with him and I was about to learn a hard lesson about death. I was told he was sick because of smoking. I watched him as he kept getting more weak and sick. I wish I remembered the last time I saw him. I probably never realized at our last meeting that it was our last meeting.

He passed away on September 6, 1989. I woke up for my first day of first grade and my mom told me the news. I got the talk of how he wouldn’t wake up from sleep anymore and how he was in heaven.

As a 6-year-old, something about his loss shook me to the core. The first promise I ever made to myself I have kept and will keep the rest of my life: never to smoke. I’ve refused to do it in the face of peer and society pressure.

Thinking about it now, I am sure he would list this as one of his greatest legacies: the fact that someone he cares about never smoked because of him. He saved my life.